Crockpot Freezer cooking

I know! I know! I never blog anymore! I wanted to share my crockpot freezer cooking...

 In a few weeks things are about to get very hectic in our household. I will be teaching at a school that is about a 15-20 minute drive from our house. The kids go to school in the same area as well. Andrew’s piano teacher is having knee surgery on BOTH knees and her husband is deployed, so she won’t be able to give lessons for a few months. I honestly was relieved as the girls are taking 2 dance classes (on 2 different days) and Andrew will be playing soccer this fall (with 2 practices a week). Add to this Wednesday night church activities and I feel my chest tighten a little! The good news is that dance and soccer are close to my school. 

My greatest concern was meals for our family. We have been diligently avoiding eating out as much as possible because it is so unhealthy and the cost adds up much quicker than cooking at home. I’ll be the first to admit that we are not perfectly healthy eaters, but we are making small changes little by little to try to eat healthier. We still have a ways to go, though. Since most days we will not be returning home until close to 5 or 6pm, I knew my crockpot was going to be a key in keeping us from eating out. I use my crockpot for about 3-4 meals a week on average and I have found some recipes that everyone in our family likes (which can be a challenge!!!).

 I stumbled across Jaima’s site a while back and pinned it thinking it would be good to peruse later. ALL of her recipes looked great, but some I knew would generate complaints from the kids. Although I do like to encourage them to try new things, I do not think the right time will be after a long day of work and activities! I decided to try her technique, some of her recipes and some recipes I’ve found (and have been tested and approved by my kids) to create 10 freezer meals for our family. I know the ones I’ve used previously will generate enough leftovers for a second meal which is even better!

I bought all of the ingredients I needed for $119.31 at Walmart. There was a sale paper for a grocery store across town in my cart and I was able to price match my rump roasts for $2.29/lb. (Walmart’s original price was $4.68/lb). Score! The only ingredient I already had at home was brown sugar. Ten (or more if you have leftovers) meals for $119.31 is not bad!

I followed her preparation method which was:
1) Gather ingredients
2) Chop all veggies
3) Label bags with directions
4) Add meats
5) Add veggies
6) Add other ingredients
7) Let air out, seal bag and lay flat (I double bagged mine!)
8) Freeze

Total prep took between 2 and 3 hours as I had a few interruptions. Here are Jaima’s recipes I decided to try:
Lazy Day Stew
Ingredients:
4lb cubed stewing beef
4 cups baby carrots
4 cups baby red potatoes (cut in half)
2 onions (chopped)
10 oz package dried lima beans
 2 cups celery (chopped)
4 tsp quck-cooking tapioca
Salt and pepper to taste
1 15 oz can tomato sauce (1/2 in each bag)
2 Tbs brown sugar

Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze

Directions for Bags: 
Add 1 cup water. Cook on low 4-6 hours. Eat as a soup, or serve over hot noodles or rice.


Beef Roast 
Ingredients: 
2 two lb beef roasts
1 can tomato paste
 1 cup beef broth
 baby red potatoes (cut in half)
 baby carrots
 celery (diced)
 salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze

Directions for Bags: Cook on low for 6-8 hours


Divine Chicken
Ingredients: 
6 chicken breasts
4 cups baby carrots
4 cups fresh broccoli (chopped)
2 onions
salt/pepper to taste
2 cartons of cream of chicken soup (add 1 each at cook time)
2 cup milk (add 1 each at cook time)

Split everything into two containers. shake it up, seal, label and put in the freezer. 

Instructions for Container: 
 Add 1 cream of chicken soup and 1 cup of milk, cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours

I also used two other recipes I found online that my family likes. First is the Cheesy Chicken recipe (I serve it over cooked macaroni noodles) found here:
Cheesy Chicken 
Ingredients: 
6 chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
garlic powder

Cook in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.Serve over noodles.


The other is the Chicken and Dumpling recipe found here:
Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings 
Ingredients:
1-2 pounds chicken breast
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth  
1 can water I just used the can from the cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 onion
2 cans biscuits cut in quarters,***We actually used two cans of the cheap biscuits (the ones that come 4 cans to one pack), and they worked perfectly.

Directions
1. Cook on low 6-7 hours.
2. One- Two hours before dinner time, add quartered biscuits to crockpot. Gently stir in biscuits so that they’re covered.
3. Cook one-two more hours on high.

Now all I have to do is pull out a bag, defrost it in the fridge for a day and put it in the crockpot the next morning!

One of my favorite sites

I found this site through a friend on Facebook. She shared the link to a video on this site called "Moms of multiples are freaks of nature." I HAD to click on it and watched that video more times than I really want to admit. She was so right on about some of the crazy questions I hear a LOT!!! I thought to myself "The only thing better was if she somehow tied in the foolish adoption questions to go WITH the twins questions." Recently she posted a video about adoption. I may have now earned stalker status on this site. :)

Pinewood Derby

Andrew recently participated in his first Pinewood Derby race with his cub scout troop. My only experience with Pinewood Derby was watching the movie “Down and Derby” so I assumed that most dads got overly involved (even though the cub scout is supposed to do the work).
Josh spent some time in Djibouti and Kenya so he was limited in how much help he could provide. I was clueless and busy juggling work and home so I was limited in what I could do.
We managed to get his car cut into a simple wedge and Andrew spray painted it white. He decided he wanted his car to look like Speed Racer’s car so I helped him on my computer and he designed the M and the circles with the number 5 for me to cut from my vinyl. Josh helped him put the wheels on and we had a car!
Friday night was the weigh in and Josh said it was interesting to watch the dads holding the cars, tweaking them, etc. Josh just handed it to Andrew and let him go with it.
On Saturday, Race Day, Andrew had to be at the race at 8:45am. Josh offered to take him while I kept the girls at home and out of the way! ☺ I honestly thought Andrew would come home with his little certificate of participation and that would be that.
He ended up placing 3rd in his troop which meant he had to come back later that day at 3pm to race with other winners from the council.
This time we opted to all go thinking he would do his race and we could then continue with our Saturday errands. When we got there we were told they wouldn’t start until 4pm. Thankfully there was an indoor playground to entertain the girls. By 5pm we were back home and Andrew had won 5th place in the council! I was quite surprised but happy for him.
Next year I plan to not have any other errands to run for the day. ☺
Here are a couple of pictures of Andrew with his awards and car. The car is covered in graphite from all the racing!

We're alive!!!

The past few months have been crazy. Let's see if I can recap most of it:
Josh switched jobs just after learning the one he had.
I got hired and laid off in the same month (Boo! Budget cuts!!!).
I got hired back doing a different job 6 weeks later.
I'm now teaching full time.
Andrew LOVES his school.
Andrew is getting ready to have surgery in the next couple of months. He'll have to be inactive for 6-8 weeks.
The girls are potty trained! YAY!
I think that about sums up the important stuff. :)

Josh works hard and sometimes travels to Africa for work. He's not gone too often and despite his long work hours, we are happy to have him home almost every night and safe with us. :)
I LOVE my teaching job. I'm at Andrew's school and he mostly likes having me around. He likes it when all the other kids have to wait outside (usually in the cold) in their class line until 8am and he doesn't have to because he comes in with me. :) He likes getting extra computer time before and after school in my classroom while I do my work. He doesn't like that I'm on a first name basis with his teachers and can quickly find out if he is not doing his best in class! :)
Andrew is enjoying school. He's in a multi-age class of 3rd-5th grade and it's a good fit for him. He played soccer last fall and is looking forward to playing this year. He's also a wolf in his cub scout troop.
Leah and Leila are turning into little girls more and more. They aren't toddlers anymore! Leah is our drama queen who is quick to overreact to anything and everything. She's also called the "little mother" as she feels it's her need to take care of everyone else in the house. Leila is our adventurous clown. She keeps us laughing (recently i asked her to pick up her toys and she pulled her hands inside her sleeves and said "I have no hands!") and she keeps me gasping as she fearlessly takes on any physical challenge (including big hills for sledding).

We had a wonderful, white Christmas. It was just our little family but it was a nice, relaxing Christmas. We went to a Christmas market, a chocolate festival and played in the snow a LOT! :)
I want to try to keep up with this blog a little better. I think it was a combination of Josh being home (and him not being dependent on the blog to see the most recent pictures, etc), settling into our new home, the ups and downs of my job, etc.
Overall, we are happy with our situation so we can't complain. :)

Yeah, I'm alive :)

It's been a crazy couple of weeks.
The girls turned 3 on Saturday. I can't believe time has flown so quickly. I was planning to tackle potty training Labor Day weekend but last Wednesday Leah decided she wanted to be a big girl. Leila isn't on board yet. :) We have a birthday party planned for them in a couple of weeks.
Andrew started school today. He wasn't too happy about it. He is in a multi-age classroom of 3rd-5th graders. His teacher is the best from what we hear. I think Andrew likes how pretty she is! :)
I have interviewed for some teaching jobs but there are more certified teachers than jobs and since I'm coming off of a stay at home mommyhood break, I am not as competitive. Who knows what may come up in the future though!
Josh left this morning for 9 days to Africa. His job keeps him a little busier than I'd like but at least he is home every night and not in Iraq! :)
We are enjoying our neighborhood and know everyone in our stairwell. It's nice to have good neighbors and playmates for the kids.
A week ago I received some sad news. Many of my friends and family have heard me talk about my fellow Army wife friend who has 5 autistic children. I helped her raise money to send her kids to a special camp in the past and I think she is an amazing mother so I can be caught bragging on her a lot. :) Monday morning her husband was killed in a car accident. His funeral is today. I took it a lot harder than I thought I would. I think it's mostly because I know how much harder it is for her to mother her children and how much she appreciated her husband's help. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan and sometimes it is hard for us to see how a tragedy like this can fit into His plan but I have to rely on my faith. Please keep this family in your prayers as they adjust to losing a husband and father.

Good grief I am not doing well with this blog lately!

I think the reason for my lack of updating is a combination of things. One, my computer is going into the shop with a manufacturer's defect. I have to send it back to the states to get this taken care of so it kind of stinks. Two, I've been trying to get the house all set up as soon as possible in case I get a job and have to go to work. Three, my kids are busier which gives me less time on the computer. Four, I had two teenaged houseguests for the month of July so I spent most of that time driving all over Germany so they could see as much as possible. Finally, we have been rebonding as a family. Having Josh gone for 22 months and then coming back during a move is taking some time to adjust. It's so nice to have back up. I just need to remember to use it sometimes! :)
We are all well and happy. Germany is amazing and we have seen so many great things. I'll post pictures eventually. The weather is nice as well. I know most of our friends and loved ones are battling the heat wave in the states. Yesterday the high was 69 and windy. I needed a jacket in the shade. It is so nice! :)
I have some things I've been pondering that I'd like to share on here. Maybe I'll get to that this week. :)

Disney World

So after our cruise we spent 11 days at the Walt Disney World resort. We got to see a lot of friends on this trip. Our approach to this trip was to just take it easy and if we saw something we wanted to do, we would do it. No planned out day, etc.
We got to visit with Holly (in the white shirt) in her home about an hour from the resort. The last time I saw Holly was when the girls were a year old and she flew with me from Morocco to the states when we moved back. We also saw Chris (in his Disney attire), who is working through the college program at Disney. His family was in Japan when we were there. I think Josh was his scout leader at some point. Then we found out that my cousin's daughter, Micca (in the black tank and sunglasses), was at Disney so we met up for a bit and introduced our children to each other. The last time I had seen Micca was 12 and a half years before! We also saw Jen, a friend of mine from college. Jen is a teacher and works nights, weekends and holidays at Disney. She always tries to come by when we are at the resort. She rescued me from the chaos of Star Wars weekend by accompanying me and the girls to Magic Kingdom. Last, and certainly not least, my best friend, Ali (in the navy shirt), was with her family on their first day of their trip when we were on our last day. It was nice to spend the morning together and see her one last time before I moved overseas.
Josh and Andrew enjoyed Star Wars weekend at Disney Hollywood Studios. They got to see a lot of neat things and meet some actors involved in the movies/tv shows, etc. Andrew won a trivia contest for kids 12 and under. Apparently he knows way too much about Star Wars! :) It was nice to see the two of them get some guy time. I took the girls to Magic Kingdom with Jen and we hung out in Fantasyland. :)
There were lots of ducks at our resort and every morning, on our way to breakfast, the girls would yell "Quack!" at them. It was fun to watch them enjoy the rides and shows a lot more this time around. Leila started clapping along to "It's a Small World" and both girls enjoyed squealing "Castle!" everytime we got close to the Magic Kingdom.
The day before we left the resort staff left a wonderful basket in our room filled with snacks and patriotic Disney souvenirs. Attached was a card thanking Josh for his service.
Although it was QUITE hot, it was a nice, relaxing vacation. I liked the cruise better but Josh liked the resort better. Both were great, though! :)